An update: flurry of phone calls and emails from my holdouts yesterday and even one this morning.

Cue video: Carole King "It's Too Late, Baby."

Most parents were apologetic and I think future communication will improve. One parent insisted that she misinterpreted the grade reports I kept sending her under the subject line "Grade warning: Please contact me ASAP."

Three tips for any new to MCPS secondary school parents:
--number grades 59-50%, Zs, and zeroes are all Es. And E doesn't mean "Excellent!", "Extraordinary!", "Exceptional!", or "Evidence of Eligibility for Enhanced Education!"
--a Z is MCPS-speak for "I didn't get the work, but I will still take it." A zero (0) means "I didn't get it and I won't take it anymore." If you see zeros, don't bother spending the Saturday after the quarter ends filling my email inbox with scans of all the work your DC never handed in. If you still see a Z, ask before you send that email deluge --Edline can take the whole weekend to update from Gradebook. You might see a Z on 10/31, but I entered a zero on 10/30.
--a failing number grade (59-50%) means I got the work, but it was not good. I will let your child know if the work can be redone. Hours or days after the quarter officially ends is typically too late for you or your child to make a first inquiry about reassessment.

Anonymous wrote:Just out of curiosity -

Was the due date AND deadline stated on the project directions? Is the deadline just assumed to be the last day of the marking period?

Both the due date and the deadline were:
Written in 16 pt font on the assignment sheet and the rubric.
Posted on the Edline calendar
On the Google classroom Feed
At the top of the first slide of the Promethean flipchart every class for 2 weeks

If the student assumed the deadline is the last day of the quarter (this Friday), he'd have ignored written and verbal reminders that it is not. He knows today was the day I would change the Z to a 0. I've emailed him and the parents multiple times. He and I spoke in class several times. I offered to help at lunch. I offered the contact info for a high school student who helps out after school. Nada.

I wish this was the only non-responsive parent. I've whittled my list down to five who I can't get any reply from. Back in the day, my grandmother did home visits at 8 pm. I wish I had her moxie.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BTW- if you email us via Edline about 50% of the time we are unable to reply to you. It simply bounces back as undeliverable. I don't know why it works sometimes and not other times. Likewise if your child emails outside of the mcpsmd.net domain I will be unable to reply via my home email because of restrictions placed on the accounts by MCPS. If I email you directly I use the email in myMCPS to contact you. I do not place calls unless it is a disciplinary matter requiring either your assistance or assistance outside of the classroom (i.e. an administrator, counselor or resource teacher).

You sound ridiculously rigid, teacher. And I'm guessing you have phone phobia...sad. How old are you???

I'm pretty much the least rigid teacher imaginable, but I'm in my 40's, FWIW. I also have nearly 150 students, 34 of them with IEPs or 504s, more than a dozen who barely speak English, 3 dozen of them are ineligible. Say I have a 40 hour work week: that gives me 15 minutes per kid to attend IEP meetings, plan lessons, set up manipulatives, assess, grade, remediate, differentiate, re-assess and so on.

Just out of curiosity -

Was the due date AND deadline stated on the project directions? Is the deadline just assumed to be the last day of the marking period?

Anonymous wrote:Show me a link on edline that explains what a Z is?

PP, here is the info from two different local MS:

From Francis Scott Key MS:

What does the "Grade" mean?

X- Exempt

Z- Missing Assignment

0- Student is receiving 0 points

Grade Entry: 50%-100%

OT- On Time

PC- Partially complete

L- Late

NT- Not turned in

Y- Yes

N- No

From Tilden MS:

MCPS Guidelines Regarding the Use of Special Grades

SCORE MEANING INCLUDED EXPLANATION
IN CALCULATION
X Exempt No Student is not responsible for making up work

Z Zero Yes, calculates as zero Missing grade; due date has passed, but may still be submitted

0 Zero Yes, calculates as zero Missing grade; due date AND deadline have passed

No Score may or may not exist, but has not been entered